


Technically, Missing

by amazingjemma



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake Character Death, GONE GIRL AU, Jemma is a bit psycho, Psychological Drama, Secret Identity, Unreliable Narrator, a little bit nsfw ish in the end, dark conspiracy, fitz as a journalist, my version of a cool girl is also here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 18:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7518752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amazingjemma/pseuds/amazingjemma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Leo Fitz meets a mysterious girl in his favorite diner, he thinks that maybe this is where he can end his search for Jemma Simmons - a woman who disappearedt two years ago. However, there’s a darker consipracy here and yet another puzzle he has to solve on his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Technically, Missing

**Author's Note:**

> What have I done to my muse? What will we do?.. 
> 
> Let's admit, everyone likes Gone Girl. And I admit, I low key hate it already cause I had to listen to Gone Girl soundtrack for THE WHOLE DAY WRITING THIS. MY MUSE ALSO HATES ME.
> 
> Insired by superirishbreakfasttea's fic summaries. Also huuuuuuge thanks to her editing this <3
> 
> Enjoy reading! :)

 

**JUNE 12.**

 

Leo Fitz finds himself staring at the pile of papers, scattered all over the floor and his desk. He sighs deeply and covers his eyes with his palms, feeling too exhausted. As a journalist, he must keep doing all this work. But as a human, he feels absolutely useless and powerless against the lack of facts.

 

It's been two years but he isn't ready to let this case go. He visits his stoic, somewhat terrifying best friend's office and finds the guts to explain the situation to her. Bobbi Morse just rolls her eyes but lets him take this case into his own hands hands. He looks so hopeful that she just can't tell him to fuck off and let it go.

 

 

Fitz opens his eyes and a photograph of a pretty young lady stares at him. She's beautiful. Fitz can’t help but notice that.. But apparently neither could the man to her right in the photo – her husband and  _the suspect._ Jemma Simmons disappeared two years ago, with no clues, no reason and no body. She became a ghost, and even her dumb and listless husband couldn't say anything. The case went cold and,Barbara Morse – the investigator – gave up and suggested that Fitz to do the same. But he didn't believe that. There was definitely something else, something that always made him shiver, looking at their family photos and reading their messages all over again.

 

Fitz shudders when he feels something fluffy next to his right side but after turning his head, he relaxes. A drawn out “meow” makes him smile and he lifts his clumsy ginger cat, standing up.

 

“I'm just so fucking tired, pumpkin,” Fitz says and enters his messy, small kitchen. The cat meows again and the journalist bends down to feed the animal. “I'm going out, be good and don't break anything.”

 

His favorite diner is right behind the corner of his house. He walks over there, sliding into his usual booth and gloomily looking around the restaurant. There are a few people, mostly talking to each other, and no one seems to notice him. He’s grateful for that. The music is soft and Fitz appreciate the little distraction. The silence is killing him in his own flat.

 

“Welcome to our diner, can I help you?” a perky voice startles him and he looks up, smiling at the familiar face of the waitress.

 

“Yeah, Daisy, fish and chips and espresso. You know my order, do you really need to ask?”

 

Daisy laughs and writes down his order. “You never know what could happen. People change, and so do their orders. Ten minutes.”

 

He smirks and mutters a 'thank you'. Daisy, if he dared to say it, is the oldest waitress in this diner. It's been almost four years and she's still working here, the only one who hasn’t quit or moved on when this place was almost closed due to debts of the owner. She now works with her mother—the new owner of the diner—and refuses to give up her precious post. 

 

To kill time, Fitz opens his notebook and pulls a pile of photographs out of his pocket. It must seem a little creepy for people who don't know what are these for, but this is the only clue Leo Fitz has. He's convinced that Jemma Simmons –  _listed as dead_ – is still alive, somewhere out there, living her life and probably enjoying it. 

 

Just when he opens his notebook on page seven, a plate of fish and chips appears right under his nose. The delicious smell of coffee and  _something else_ makes him look up.

 

“Your order. Bon appetit.”

 

Fitz doesn't have enough time to study this girl's face but she is certainly not Daisy. Fitz knows Daisy’s perfume by heart and  _she hates oranges_ . He turns around and hopes that the mystery girl will look at him, but he's staring at her back. All he can see is that she is blonde, not very tall and moves gracefully, as if she's not made for a work like that.

 

His food is long forgotten and he just can't take his eyes off of this unfamiliar girl. He tries to make a eye contact with her, but it seems like she’s forgotten all about him, ignoring another yet curious customer. He decides that he’ll stay a bit later and ask Daisy who's that waitress, but it turns out he doesn't have to wait that long.

 

The blonde girl takes an order and turns around, finally,  _finally_ meeting his deep blue eyes. That's when Fitz thinks that maybe he's come completely undone. Then she smiles and he can't breathe. She looks achingly familiar and a dreadful feeling settles somewhere in his gut. He knows it’s impossible, but this girl looks almost like the gone girl. Jemma Simmons.

 

But her eyes are green, her hair is blonde, and she looks much smaller than the Jemma in the phographs. Technically, Fitz knows that there must be some conspiracy here, because well, Jemma Simmons  _must_ be dead. She must be buried under the ground, her husband must be in jail, but everything is collapsing like a house of cards, built by Fitz during the past two years.

 

She's passing by him and Fitz finally realizes he's been staring at her the whole time, so he decides to smile too. The waitress  _\- her name is Jenny_ – looks away shyly and the journalist doubts that this is Jemma Simmons. According to her friends, and other exes, Jemma is anything but shy. She's daring, gorgeous and extremely flirty. She's a  _cool girl._

 

Just when Jenny disappears behind the doors of the kitchen, Leo shakes himself off and takes a long sip of his espresso. “You're going crazy, Fitz,” he mutters and rubs the bridge of the nose to calm down. “It can't be her. She left to a big city, and Jefferson City is definitely not her point of destination.”

 

“Who?”

 

Fitz jumps at definitely-not-Daisy's voice and looks up, his unfamiliar waitress staring at him, a little smile on her lips.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You were talking about... her. Who exactly?” She's cute, he thinks, and shakes his head to get rid of this thought. He closes his eyes and counts to five, but when he opens them, she's still here, staring at his notebook and photos scattered all over the table. “Your girlfriend?”

 

“Uh, um, no, it's not... she's not... I don't even know her, so um... and I don't even have a girlfriend, so nope, it's not her. She's a stranger, I've never...”

 

He mumbles and it makes Jenny laugh. Fitz rolls his eyes and mutters 'sorry I'm such an idiot'. The blonde girl shrugs and takes his empty plate as she leans forward to clean his table, opening a very generous view of her neckline. Fitz gulps and purses his lips, trying not to stare at her.

 

“You're a very determined and cute idiot, then,” the girl says. “Daisy's off, so I'm taking over for her. Anything else?”

 

“Um, no, thanks, I think I'm done”, Fitz quickly gathers his things and smiles at the waitress once more. “Here's twenty bucks. Keep the change.”

 

Jenny grins and thanks her customer, watching him leaving the diner and hoping he'll come back.

 

**JUNE 16.**

 

Leo Fitz, who's been trying to solve these pieces into puzzles, finally thinks that maybe there is a chance of closing this case. Because his frequent visits to this diner inspired him to continue his search, and his new friend might be a little too enthusiastic about the case of the Gone Girl.

 

Jenny turns out to be a new waitress here, working full time and trying to find new friends and, as Fitz learnt later, adventures. She's strange, he thinks, but he likes spending time with her after her shift and share a laugh or two. Jenny Evans seems a bit strange, but interesting woman, with her own secrets behind her eyes and a smile on full lips.

 

Her eyes are honey hazel ( _she was wearing lenses, the other day when he met her_ ) and she's constantly smiling when Fitz's talking about his theories where Jemma Catheryn Simmons can be. She helps him with the flyers and even organizes a little “search group” - people who are trying to help a young journalist to solve the case. Fiz is greatful, and two days later he thinks that maybe – _maybe_ – he's falling in love with this mysterious blonde woman, who hides secrets behind yet another smile when he looks at her  _just like that_ .

 

“And what about her friends?” Jenny leans forward to take a glance at the photograph of Jemma, surrounded by two guys.

 

“Lance Hunter and Antoine Triplett”, Fitz replies and writes down their names in a little circle. “Hunter is actually my best friend's husband, we've talked to him.”

 

“Oohh, interesting!” Jenny looks up at Fitz and he notices fire burning in them. “What did he say?”

 

“Nothing much. He doesn't know where she can be. The last time he saw her, she looked exhausted and with a bruise on her left cheekbone.”

 

“Poor girl”, Jenny sympathes and sighs. She leans backward and huffs. “What about the other guy? He looks like he knows something.”

 

“The only thing he knows that her husband was a real jerk”, a journalist chuckles.

 

“Really?” she asks. The blonde girls takes a photograph of Simmons and her husband. They are both smiling, looking excited. On the photograph, Jemma's holding her hand up, a shiny little ring on her finger. “They look rather happy. I can't believe she was miserable.”

 

“Have you seen the man's head? He's got a cabbage head.”

 

“More like, a brussel sprout, really.” 

 

Fitz lets out a laugh and once again, can't look away from his new friend. Jenny Evans is everything he would like his girlfriend to be. She's funny, kind, adorable and laughs at even his stupidest jokes. But she's also a little bit terrifying, strange and shady. He doesn't know a lot about her, like where she's from or what is she doing and maybe, Fitz thinks, she's a lot like Jemma Simmons. She's British and she absolutely hates online quizzes. When she’s not smiling, she looks like she's going to snap your neck without batting an eyelid. Leo Fitz might just be falling in love with her, but he's also beginning to think that she's trying to be someone else, that she might be someone who's trying to escape their past and start a brand new life, without hog-faced exes and bruises on skin.

 

“Fitz? You okay?” Jenny's voice startles him and Leo takes a deep breath before closing his notebook.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just got lost in my thoughts. And I’m fucking tired.”

 

“Maybe you should give up,” blonde girl suggests. 

 

“I can't give up. I won't give up. I feel like I'm almost there. This case has to be be solved. I won't let people like Milton walk around with no consequences.”

 

“What did the cops say?” Jenny suddenly asks, looking as serious as he's never seen her. Her hazel eyes are concentrated on a photo of a young man, and Fitz could swear that she just clenched her jaw.

 

“They couldn't find anything,” Fitz swallows loudly and takes a photo from Jenny's hands. “There's blood, everywhere, all over the floor, but they couldn't find the body. So, the case was stuck, and they had to let it go.”

 

“But you didn't,” she looks up and smirks, secrets behind her smile. “That's impressive. What you are doing... it’s very brave. Jemma Simmons might be dead, but you've kept digging. If I were you, I'd give up.”

 

Fitz smiles but says nothing, collecting his papers and photographs. Jenny's mood swings are a bit alarming, and Fitz tries his best not to trigger her. He still thinks that she's weird and terrifying, but this darkness behind her hazel eyes doesn't scare him. Sometimes, when he knows that she doesn't see him, he takes pictures of her, close ups to try to solve another yet puzzle.

 

“I'm heading home. You’ll be here tomorrow?” he asks, taking his cardboard cup of coffee and smiling at Evans.

 

“Probably. It actually looks like this diner's your home now. But yes. I'll be there.”

 

She's smiling, again,  _like that_ , and Fitz shivers at the thought that Jenny Evans might be Jemma Simmons. Even when he comes home and his cat tries to sooth his owner's denial, Leo can't take his eyes off the map he made, with pictures of both Jemma and Jenny, Jemma's friends and family, Milton and his acquaintances.

 

If this is the truth, why did Jemma Simmons became Jenny Evans? Why did she have to erase her past self, and create a completely new identity? What's hidden behind her smile? What is she thinking about? What is she feeling? What's the point in helping a journalist, knowing that he's trying to find  _her_ ? Bobbi once said  _you're chasing a ghost; ghosts don’t want to be found. They are terrifying, and that's why people tend not to meet them in the dark._

 

“What have you done to each other?” Fitz says quietly in his messy room, full of papers and photographs. “What will we do?”

 

**JUNE 25.**

 

Fitz thinks that maybe Jenny's head over heels for him too. He can see that in her burning hazel eyes, flirty smiles and the way she behaves around him. She's more open now, definitely not shy and acting like she has plans for both of them.

 

It’s yet another evening and she's sitting in front of him, counting her daily tips. Her blonde hair is a bit longer now, and he can see her roots. Fitz imagines her as a brunette. The similarities between her and Jemma Simmons are terrifying, but he doesn't want to tell Jenny his thoughts on the matter.

 

“So, Jenny, why are you here?” he asks and the girls looks up, a rather confused look on her face. 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I know nothing about you,” Leo shrugs. Evans rolls her eyes. “I think that you're something else.”

 

“Oh, really?” Her own flirty smile makes Fitz choke on air and he just nods his head. “Well, I have nothing to say. I’m just a girl trying to get by.”

 

“I've never had a girlfriend”, Fitz continues. “I have a cat, named Pumpkin. I’m from Scotland but moved to the States to go to school . I used to work with the cops to find Jemma Simmons but now I'm an investigator on my own. I can't stand onion soup and my dream girlfriend is funny, beautiful and interesting. She hates internet quizzes and loves oranges. She can drink tea every hour because it’s the drink of the gods. She wanted to be a painter but ended up working in a place I still can't imagine her in. My mum and I are best friends and she raised me on her own.”

 

Fitz grins at Jenny's shocked expression but she recovers quickly. She tsks and puts away the money, leaning forward.

  
“I am Jenny Evans and I hate when people ask dumb questions. I hate cabbage and brussel sprouts. I like art, but only if you see the meaning behind the picture. I’m a big fan of cats and I can't imagine my life without animals at all. I love citrus—the taste, the smell, all of it. People say that blonde hair doesn't suit me, but the fact is, I think you should do what you want to do, since you'll be criticized anyway. I hate alpha-male types of men because they know nothing about women but they think they do. My dream boyfriend can be a little bit weird and nerdy, but he is kind and honest, and daring and I wish there were more men like him. Men who don't try to turn their girlfriend into a cool girl. Into a fake, emotionless doll.”

 

Fitz smirks as soon as Jenny stops talking and glances down at the photographs, then back at Jenny. She stares back at him, a familiar fire burning brighter than he ever seen.

 

“Cool girl, huh?” he asks and something in Jenny's expression shifts, but she still remains stoic and confident. “That's what Jemma Simmons wrote in her diary. That she's tired of being a 'cool girl'. Maybe it's time?”  


“Time for what?” she asks, tiltng her head slightly.

 

“Stop running. I know you're her.”

 

The girl's smile falls and Fitz finally accepts that he won. He finally solved this puzzle, finally found her, his Gone Girl, who tried to disappear, become a ghost. She succeeded at that, definitely, but even she doesn't want to reveal herself, let it be. He'll still respect her. He just wants to know the truth.

 

Just when Fitz opens his mouth to say he had won, Jenny grins slyly and moves her hand to take Jemma Simmons' photo. She studies it for a few seconds and then stands up, sitting next to Fitz.

 

“Isn't there Jemma Simmons in every girl?” Fitz tenses, feeling the heat of her body and orange perfume surrounding him, suffocating him. “I think there’s a part of her in every woman, old and young. She proved that you don't have to endure pain and unhappiness of your marriage. I don't know what she's written in this dairy... but I don't think she was always like that. There are ups and downs, but I think she just stopped hoping that her husband would change. So, she decided to change herself.”

 

“No one likes change”, Fitz whispers, his voice suddenly hoarse at her proximity. “It's terrifying.”

 

“Apparently, your Jemma Simmons likes a bit of a challenge.”

 

Fitz suddenly feels that maybe he should have given up. There's nothing he can do, nothing that will help him to find Jemma, to prove to people that she's the hero, not a victim. But even if she is a victim, he'll be protecting her till his last breath. Because this woman is worth all of his time and efforts, and he'll be damned if he won't find her.

 

“I would suggest you check her other boyfriends,” Jenny's voice brings him out of his reverie and he frowns.

 

Boyfriends. Of course, he should check them.

 

“Where are you going?” He watches her back and when she turns around, she's the same when he met her. Shy, lovely, and reminding her of bright morning sun.

 

“I'm going home. You can walk me, if you want.”

 

When Jenny watches him dumping all of his stuff in his bag and nearly dropping his cup of coffee, she laughs.

 

**JULY 7.**

 

Almost one month later, he's kissing his way down her spine, making her shiver and whimper and not for the first time Fitz thinks that this is his favorite sound. Her freckles are tiny dots on her pale skin and he traces constellation with his fingers, when he suddenly realizes.

 

“What's a cool girl?”

 

Jenny smiles and turns around, lying on her back and facing Fitz. Hazel eyes meet blue ones and she purses her lips, clutching the duvet upper, to cover her naked body.

 

“A Cool Girl is something what can be easily made when you're trying to be yourself. Especially when you're in a relationship, and then you marry... you promise each other not to be like them. Like these men and women who try to change each other, fixing each and every bolt in your relationship.” Jenny raises her hand and cups Fitz's cheek, cold fingers soothing his stubble. “Cool Girl is a Girl who changes herself to match her man. She's like a puppy, following him around and waiting when he tells her what to do and in what pose you should do that. Cool Girl is a perfect housewife, who always tries to follow her man's interests and wishes. She pleases him each and every night but when she needs something, she's rejected.. She starts to doubt what she's doing, she becomes aggressive and distant, she disappears. As if she never existd. But maybe she started existing the moment she started changing herself, just to be the Cool Girl.”

 

Fitz smiles and takes her hand, peppering it with feather-like kisses. She closes her eyes and sinks into the pillow, a smile on her lips.

 

“Cool Girl is considered a compliment. She's a Cool Girl, they say. A very doubtful compliment, if you ask me. You don't have to be a Cool Girl to get people to like you. Otherwise, you'll be gone, erased and crushed under your illusions you’ve made. Cool Girl is a disease, not a title you should be proud of when they call you that.”

 

“You're so poetic,” Fitz whispers and she smiles with her shy smile. “You'd be such a great writer.”

 

Jenny giggles but then her giggles turn into moans when Fitz's lips kiss her cheek, then her neck and to her collarbone. She thinks that maybe this is her death, right here and now, with him and she's ready to accept this kind of death. When his mouth finds her breasts, she whimpers and tugs at the curls at the nape of his head, bringing him to her lips, kissing him eagerly.

 

“Remember we agreed to no more secrets?” he whispers between kisses, his hands roaming over her body under the covers. She humms. “I should show you something.”

 

“But we...”

 

“We can always come back to that later,” Leo promises and smiles at Jenny's cute pouty face. He doesn't even need to get dressed, but blonde girl tugs at the bedsheet around her naked body and follows her _boyfriend_ to the closed room she always wanted to open. “Jen, I promise I am not insane. I am not a stalker. I just... you know this is what I spent years doing.. I had to solve this case.”

 

Just when he opens the door, Jenny opens her mouth and stares at the wall of the pictures, newspaper clippings, random photographs of her and Jemma fucking Simmons. There are red dots on the map and she takes one step forward to take a better look at the wall. She sees familiar photos she's seen in the diner, just when they had met, and a red thin string, leading to her own pictures. She smirks when there are two photos of her –  _the blonde girl_ – and the brunette girl, aka Jemma. All of the similarities are circled by blue marker and when she turns her head to the right, she sees a picture of herself, but with dark hair.

 

“I had to do that, because I'm not used to giving up,” she hears Leo's voice behind her back but doesn't turn around. “This is everything. Right from the beginning. I knew there was something else, missing pieces of this huge puzzle. Jemma Simmons was amazing. She _is_ amazing. But she's also the girl I saw at the diner on June twelth. But with a better version of herself, and not the cool girl she was with Milton.”

 

“Sometimes it's not people who solve the puzzle,” she says softly and finally turns around, mischievous smile on her face. “Sometimes puzzles solve the people, and I think you did an amazing job.”

 

Fitz stares at the girl in front of him and now everything what he tried to ignore, finally finds its piece. Jenny Evans is as mysterious as Jemma Simmons, but she is even better, newer, and more amazing.

 

“You are a psychopath,” he finally says but there's no accusation in his voice, only fondness. “You are fucking amazing, Jemma Simmons.”

 

Her smile is genuine and Fitz finally feels relieved. The fear of rejection is now gone because she is standing here, alive and well, looking different but still the same, and he doesn’t care if she a psycho who faked her own death to escape the man who tried to change her. He can't blame her. 

 

“So, what would you like me to call you?” he asks, slowly approaching her and taking her hands, intertwining their fingers. She looks almost angelic and his breath hitches, but he stares at her bright hazel eyes and can't believe that almost three years later, he's finally here, with his Gone Girl.

 

“You can call me whatever you like,” she replies and kisses him gently. She tugs him back to their bedroom and when his ankles hit the edge if the bed, she stops, pulling apart and waiting for his answer.

 

“I think I love you, Jemma Simmons.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Kudos or/and comments motivate me.


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